Comments on: Social Justice Research Institute appoints first directorhttp://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=22855
A news source for Brock University, St. Catharines, OntarioTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:41:56 +0000http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1hourly1By: Richard Mitchellhttp://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=22855&cpage=1#comment-142009
Richard MitchellMon, 17 Jun 2013 14:47:29 +0000http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=22855#comment-142009Good question - here's one point of view.
To achieve what the term 'justice' implies in a social democratic system such as ours often costs money - and often more than average people can afford.
'Social Justice' has to do with being treated fairly in systems that serve people - in child welfare, schools, public spaces, hospitals, banks, stores, for example as well as in all other public services and our courts. In the preface for 'Principles of Social Justice' author David Miller (1999, Harvard University Press) tells us 'social justice is an idea that is central to the politics of contemporary democracies'. However critical pedagogues argue that the issue of how power is distributed and wielded within and beyond institutions can tell us more about the dimensions of social justice, and how those being discriminated against may be treated differently. This approach towards critical pedagogy…
…signals how questions of audience, voice, power, and evaluation
actively work to construct particular relations between teachers and
students, institutions and society, and classrooms and
communities…. Pedagogy in the critical sense illuminates the
relationship among knowledge, authority, and power (Giroux, 1994: 30,
Disturbing pleasures: Learning popular culture. New York/Routledge).
At risk of over-simplifying the answer in a word, 'fairness' is central to social justice. That would be for all people regardless of gender, age, ability, sexual identities, ethnicity or cultural affiliation[s].Good question - here’s one point of view.

To achieve what the term ‘justice’ implies in a social democratic system such as ours often costs money - and often more than average people can afford.

‘Social Justice’ has to do with being treated fairly in systems that serve people - in child welfare, schools, public spaces, hospitals, banks, stores, for example as well as in all other public services and our courts. In the preface for ‘Principles of Social Justice’ author David Miller (1999, Harvard University Press) tells us ’social justice is an idea that is central to the politics of contemporary democracies’. However critical pedagogues argue that the issue of how power is distributed and wielded within and beyond institutions can tell us more about the dimensions of social justice, and how those being discriminated against may be treated differently. This approach towards critical pedagogy…

…signals how questions of audience, voice, power, and evaluation
actively work to construct particular relations between teachers and
students, institutions and society, and classrooms and
communities…. Pedagogy in the critical sense illuminates the
relationship among knowledge, authority, and power (Giroux, 1994: 30,
Disturbing pleasures: Learning popular culture. New York/Routledge).

At risk of over-simplifying the answer in a word, ‘fairness’ is central to social justice. That would be for all people regardless of gender, age, ability, sexual identities, ethnicity or cultural affiliation[s].